1. Field of Invention
This invention is in the general field of laundry appliances and, more particularly, is a clothes dryer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A clothes dryer usually includes a drum wherein wet clothes are placed. The drum is axially rotated by a drum motor, thereby tumbling the wet clothes as they are dried.
The clothes dryer additionally includes a blower motor that drives a blower that causes a flow of air over a heating coil where it is heated. The heated air is directed into the drum where it evaporates water from the wet clothes.
A control system of the clothes dryer includes controls for establishing a drying cycle with a specified heat level and a drying time. The drying cycle is initiated by placing the wet clothes in the drum, manually adjusting controls of the control system to specify the heat level and the drying time and depressing a start button. In response to the depression of the start button, the drum motor, the blower motor and the heating coil are energized for a time duration equal to the drying time.
The heating coil is usually an electric resistance heater. In order to adequately sanitize the wet clothes, the heater would have to operate at a temperature that is likely to cause damage to the wet clothes as they dry. Therefore, the dryer is not used to sanitize clothes. There is a need for a dryer that sanitizes clothes.
Power provided the dryer is on the order of several kilowatts and is primarily consumed by the heating coil. A lesser amount of power is consumed by the drum motor and the blower motor. Because electric power is provided at an ever increasing cost, it is desirable to reduce the power needed to dry clothes.
According to the present invention, a drum made from a wire mesh is axially rotatable. A motor disposed proximal to the drum has a shaft whereon fan blades rotate to cause a flow of air into the drum. An annulus is fixedly connected to the drum with the drum and the annulus being coaxial. There is a friction coupling between the shaft and the annulus that causes the drum to rotate in response to rotation of the shaft.
The invention is a dryer is particularly suited for use out of doors where ultraviolet rays of sunlight sanitize clothes as they dry. The dryer uses on the order of sixty watts of power because it includes only one motor and does not include a heater. When there are dry ambient climactic conditions, it is desirable to use the invention to dry clothes indoors and thereby cause an increase in ambient humidity.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention should be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.